Target: Twins
by WatUCWatIC
Summary: Tsuna and Ieyasu have their world turned around by a strange baby who claims to be both a hitman and their tutor! Ieyasu was chosen to be the next Vongola gen's boss, but he's terrified! Slowly but surely, the tenth Vongola generation will come to realize that a sky can't be judged on simple merit (and pretty much everyone but Tsuna will want Tsuna to be next boss). SLOW UPDATES!
1. Pilot

**Warning: This is just a test. Call it the pilot episode, if you will. I don't know what it is about KHR, but it somehow re-caught my interest even more than even Beelzebub has ever had it (and I LOVE Beelzebub!).**

 **Since most of what's in bold are going to be spoilers to this, all you (my test audience) will really have to look forward to if I continue is my terrible execution and near outright plagiarism mixed in with an OC main character.**

 **Also, sorry for the raw rawness that is my thinking process:**

* * *

 **The twin fanfic in which Tsuna is not separated into two brothers (essentially removing the annoying and insolent "dame" attitude he had and replacing it with an abusive family member).**

 **Rather, the twin fanfic in which Tsuna is dame-Tsuna and his younger brother is just naturally better at everything he isn't (except math, apparently). It gets the audience to be disappointed in Tsuna as much as we really should have been when we realized the main character was very much dame and not main cast material at all. Growth guys...**

 **I like the older useless brother thing going on, so I'll keep Tsuna oldest and make Ieyasu (as most tend to name the other) the youngest.**

 **Same storyline though: Ieyasu is chosen as the next Vongola heir, but Tsuna manages to beat him in the sky/boss department.**

 **Ieyasu takes it in stride. Contrary to popular belief, he also lacks attitude; especially to protect his Famiglia.**

 **He is a bit of a coward in the face of the mafia, like or maybe more than Tsuna.**

 **Babysitter Tsuna stands. Ieyasu is pretty much useless when it comes to children (his patience cannot be built up).**

 **No, yeah, both twins laughed their asses off when Reborn introduced himself. It's not like they don't share some sense of humor.**

 **They are twins who like each other bruh.**

 **Ieyasu will definitely take over the CEDEF, and Iemitsu's position as the Vongola boss' No. 2 when the Guardians are not available.**

 **But that's in the future!**

 **Currently, Ieyasu will be the chosen heir**

 **(the twins wouldn't look different if it weren't for the youngest's position in the kendo club—where he has to deal with asshole Mochida badmouthing his bro all the time—giving him that early hot anime guy look. They'll look exactly the same in the future, which will be hilarious. So many pranks to plan).**

 **Ieyasu's shortcoming is probably how hard it is to put himself at risk for his family (mafia or otherwise).**

 **Ok, I've thought it through. Enough, anyway…**

 **Let's-a-go**

 **Wait, no-**

 **Btw, I'll be following the manga as much as I can. That's just the type of writer I am. If it's not canon, it's headcanon. I doubt I'll add any sort of OC (ha, 'except for Ieyasu, but does that even count, this guy is fandom appointed parallel universe headcanon, therefore just an OOC MC?). Unless it's a watch the story fic, you can be sure of this.**

 **Uuuuggghhh, so anxious to start writing, but I have school tomorrow and I almost missed my bus today, so if I don't sleep, I'll probably miss it tomorrow. I mean, I still won't sleep till 3, but if my mom catches me on my computer, I'm dead. I'm stuck on mobile (Google docs) for now [;_;]**

 **At least I can use emojis….but I keep accidentally auto-correcting words in Spanish, aaaarrrgghhh.**

 **Also, based on the manga, so there probably won't be any Arcobaleno trials. Probably. There WILL DEFINITELY BE A SIMON FAMILY THOUGH! Enma fo life bitches!**

 **Ok. Start!**

 **Word Count: 6073**

* * *

Any other day, Ieyasu would have been able to win the basketball game. Well, any other day, Tsuna would have probably skipped gym.

Technically, thought Tsunayoshi Sawada, Ieyasu's older twin brother (by 27 minutes, and he would always be proud of this), this was all Ieyasu's fault. If the younger twin hadn't convinced Tsuna to attend gym today, he wouldn't have had to pick his brother when they chose teams.

Everyone knew that dame-Tsuna's team always lost. Not even Ieyasu Sawada's skills could compensate for that.

"Tsuna, pass!"

So, the ball bounced off Tsuna's face, into the opposing team's hands.

"Not again!"

Ieyasu winced, watching as the score gap widened uncontrollably. Tsuna managed to be in the right place at the right time, which was a very bad thing when he couldn't catch the ball if his life depended on it.

Eventually, the team lost.

"Great, now we've got cleaning duty," one of their team members groaned.

"I wanted to karaoke after school!"

One turned an accusing glare in Tsuna's direction. "It's your fault we lost, you know?"

Tsuna shrunk. "So-sorry," he apologized, bowing his head.

"It's also my fault," Ieyasu cut in, standing beside Tsuna. It had been him, the team leader, who chose Tsuna. "We can just take over if you guys really want to leave."

"Hey!" Tsuna exclaimed.

Some of the boys gave Ieyasu an admiring look.

"Don't blame yourself, Ieyasu! It's not your fault Tsuna's your brother."

"We'll just make _him_ do the cleaning," said the one with a mop. He shoved it into Tsuna's empty hands, and the boy took it with little resistance.

"You're too good to be true, Ieyasu."

"Yeah, if Tsuna was my brother I would never admit it."

"Well, he can't help it. They look exactly alike."

The boys continued to chat, idly walking away as they badmouthed Tsuna.

Ieyasu jeered in their direction before turning abruptly to his brother.

"Why don't you ever say anything back?"

"What?" Tsuna looked up from the floor. "It's not like they're lying. We do look alike."

Both brunettes were of the same stature, both with wide brown eyes and with a mountain of hair on their head. Their cheeks were slightly pudgy; their pre-teen vibe was still strongly present.

Ieyasu, however, had muscles appropriate for a kendo club member. He was one, after all.

"You know that's not what I mean."

"Ah, you mean the name? Dame-Tsuna."

"You wouldn't be dame if you actually tried to study. Join a club at least, nii-chan."

"Alright, alright," Tsuna said, dropping the mop and covering his ears. "I'm just an idiot and not athletic."

"You're lazy, that's what you are," Ieyasu said, picking up the mop and resuming the cleaning Tsuna had left behind.

He watched as Tsuna walked toward a nearby window, where there were a few stray dodgeballs that had flown loose after the fifth time Tsuna had failed to catch the basketball.

Instead of picking them up, the boy stared out the window. Ieyasu smirked when he saw a shy smile touch his brother's lips.

"Sasagawa Kyoko is very cute, isn't she, _Tsu-kun_?"

Tsuna blushed and glared at him. "Yes," he admitted, "she's the school idol after all. It's impossible for someone like me to even talk to her."

Ieyasu sighed. He knew Kyoko was the only reason his older brother attended school. The only interest he took in life.

For that, Ieyasu admired Kyoko greatly. She was awesome if she could catch his dame-brother's interest enough to get him to go to school.

A school idol indeed.

 _It's not like mom really cares if we pass our classes or not_ , Ieyasu thought, a worried smile on his lips. Their mother was not strict enough with them. She just wanted her two precious sons to enjoy life to the fullest.

In a sense, Ieyasu felt the same way. He wished Tsuna could take interest in something. Anything. If it took a pretty girl to get Tsuna to act like he cared about something, he would accept it gratefully.

He glanced at his twin again, just in time to see him sink to the floor with a defeated look on his face.

"What's wrong?"

"She's seeing the Kendo club's captain," he said in distraught.

"Mochida-senpai?" Ieyasu dropped the mop, approaching the window. Indeed, Mochida and Kyoko were talking as Kyoko's friend walked away in satisfaction.

"Now there's no reason for me to be at school," Tsuna whined. "I'm going home."

Ieyasu sidestepped in front of Tsuna as he stood up.

"What?! Wait a minute! You can't just give up like that!"

"Watch me."

Tsuna walked into the locker rooms pitifully, his brother following close behind.

"You can't be sure that they're dating! Besides, that Mochida is a jerk. There's no way Sasagawa-san is going out with him."

"Isn't he your captain? You should respect him more," Tsuna chastised, stripping out of his gym clothes and shoving them into his locker.

 _Well, he should respect_ you _more_ , Ieyasu thought, remembering the insults Mochida tended to send Tsuna's way.

"He's a jerk," he repeated.

"Whatever," sighed Tsuna, slipping into his shirt. He took a few more moments to put on his pants and shoes before grabbing his bag. "I'm going home. See you, Ie-kun."

"Wha- Nii-chan!"

His brother walked out the gym doors. Ieyasu's eye twitched.

 _At least finish helping me clean up! It's not like you're gonna do your homework anyway._

* * *

Ieyasu had club activities, so Tsuna, naturally, walked home alone and ignored his homework in favor of reading manga.

"Tsunayoshi!"

His mother, Nana, walked up the stairs with a rare serious tone in her voice. Tsuna hummed, too quietly for his mother to have heard.

"I got a call from school. You came home in the middle of class again. What do you plan to do in the future?"

"I don't know," he answered absentmindedly, turning a page.

She opened his room door. The sight of her son lying in the midst of disorder and dirty laundry greeted her. Same old, same old.

"I'm not saying you have to go to a good high school or college, you know."

"Don't barge into my room!" Tsuna exclaimed, putting away his manga.

Nana ignored him. She said, "You can live your life bored, like you are now, or you can live it happily." Her demeanor suddenly changed as she imagined her son's future. "I want you to live to say things like, 'It's great to be alive!' No regrets!"

"Don't say stuff like that in front of people," her son released an irritated sigh, "it's embarrassing."

"Oh my," she said, _what a disobedient child._

A voice from downstairs arose before she could give Tsuna the news. "I'm home!"

"Ie-kun is here," Nana grinned. "Then I can give you both the big news."

"News?" Tsuna asked, turning toward his mother, but she was already out the door. He got up and followed her downstairs.

"Welcome home, Ie-kun," Nana said when she saw her youngest.

"Yeah," Tsuna said, but he quickly switched the topic. "Mom says she has news."

"News?" Ieyasu shrugged off his blazer.

Nana clasped her hands and held them up to her face, a smirk that the boys were all too familiar with on. They both held their breath, worry crossing their expressions.

"Tsu-kun. Ie-kun," she sang, "A home tutor will be coming today."

Both brothers repeated the subject simultaneously, "Home tutor!?"

"I found an interesting flyer in the mailbox," Nana grinned, holding up said flyer. She read, "'Will raise your kid to be the new leader of the next generation. Grade and subject don't matter. Reborn.' Isn't it great? I've never seen a promotion like this!"

"It smells like a scam," argued Tsuna.

"I don't need a tutor," Ieyasu added.

Nana brought her hand to her mouth, pulling out another sheet of paper from behind her. It was a test. Ieyasu's math test.

In bright red, the grade was written: 19.

"Don't go in my room without my permission!" a flushed Ieyasu almost screamed, making a grab for his failed math test. The subject was certainly not his best, but at least he was passing it.

Nana danced out of the way, her chuckles mixing in with Tsuna's.

"Pfft! Nineteen," Tsuna snorted.

Nana pulled yet another test paper. On Tsuna's math test was the grade: 07.

"Aah! Mom!" Tsuna was failing math.

Both boys simultaneously made a grab for their respective test, but Tsuna stepped over his own foot and found himself toppling over Ieyasu.

"Ack!"

The twins were a mess of limbs on the floor in the blink of an eye. Nana continued to speak as if nothing had happened.

"It's probably a professional teacher from a business school for young men," she gushed. "I've always wanted a teacher like that for you two!"

"Don't imagine what he's like already," Ieyasu pulled himself up. "I thought you didn't care about our grades."

"Yeah," Tsuna agreed. "I refuse to have a home tutor! I'm not good at anything I do anyway."

"Exactly!" Ieyasu nodded. "Wait-"

"Ciaossu."

Before the younger twin could continue, a strange voice coming from the staircase had interrupted him.

They turned to the voice.

On the steps was a baby wearing a fedora and a suit, carrying a briefcase. A transparent yellow pacifier hung around his neck.

 _Is that a lizard?_ Tsuna thought, staring at the baby's hat. On it was, indeed, a chameleon.

"I arrived three hours early," the baby spoke, "but as a service, I'll evaluate you now." He seemed to be speaking to both twins, but his unrelenting stare was mostly on Ieyasu.

"Hey," Nana said, "Whose kid are you?"

"Hmm," the baby hummed, "I'm the home tutor. Reborn."

"Oh," Nana covered her mouth in surprise.

"Pfft," the twins began to laugh.

"I was wondering what kind of person created that flyer," Tsuna chortled, holding his stomach with tears in his eyes.

"You're just a baby," Ieyasu was in a similar stance, bent forward laughing.

"Oh my," Nana muttered under her breath, hiding an amused smile.

"So you're the twin brothers," Reborn said. "Tsuna and...Ieyasu."

Tsuna continued, "Sorry, there's nothing we can learn from you!"

Ieyasu and Tsuna were kicked in the stomach before they knew it was coming. They were effectively knocked out and down for the count.

Nana stared in horror as the small baby then proceeded to drag her sons upstairs, their heads bouncing on each step.

"Well, let's get started," he said. And just to be polite, he asked Nana, "Ieyasu's room is the one on the far left, right?"

Of course, Reborn already knew that.

* * *

Tsuna woke up on Ieyasu's bed. He knew because he'd snuck in several times before, being a bit of a scaredy cat and holding a great fear of ghosts.

Also, Ieyasu's bed always had orange covers.

"Ie-kun?" he muttered, sitting up. He remembered the baby, Reborn, when he felt a bruise on his stomach. But what was up with the headache?

He found his brother on the floor, also waking up. Next to him was Reborn, asleep.

He rushed to the baby, grabbing him by the collar, and yelled, "Hey, wake up! I won't forgive you just because you're a baby!"

His headache was forgotten in favor of his anger, but Ieyasu hissed at the noise, touching his own head gingerly.

"Okay, I know we got kicked in the stomach by that baby," he said, "but why does my head hurt?"

Instead of answering, Reborn grabbed Tsuna by the school tie and threw him over his shoulder, slamming him into the floor. Repeatedly.

"Tsuna-nii!" Ieyasu exclaimed in horror.

"Ow," Tsuna groaned as Reborn let him go, spinning him around until he landed on his behind. "What the hell is this baby?"

"I have no openings," said baby informed. "My true line of work is assassination." He turned around, opening his briefcase and swiftly assembling a rifle. "My true job," he continued, twirling around to face the still considerably horrified Ieyasu, "is to make you a mafia boss."

"What?" Ieyasu asked groggily, but the terror could be heard in his voice.

"A mafia boss?" Tsuna yelled, sitting up straight.

"I was assigned by a certain mafia man to train your brother to become an astounding mafia boss," Reborn told Tsuna, aiming the gun at the brunette's forehead. He twirled around slowly, switching targets from Ieyasu to Tsuna and back again.

"What?" Ieyasu asked again, less groggy, more alarmed.

"Hello? Are you alright in the head?" Tsuna asked, making a face at the baby. The baby seemed serious, but how could anyone be expected to believe him?

"The method is left up to me," Reborn ignored Tsuna's question, finally settling to aim at Ieyasu's head. The boys heard a click. "Should I shoot you once?"

"Wha-" Ieyasu fell back, jumping at the sight of a loaded gun aimed in his direction.

"Hey," Tsuna shouted.

"But not now," Reborn pulled the gun down, smiling smugly. Before either brother could properly bring himself to talk, the baby's stomach grumbled hungrily. "Later," he said, exiting the room without looking back.

"Hey!"

Tsuna and Ieyasu stared at the door to Ieyasu's room, the youngest still startled into stillness.

"What just happened?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"I don't know," Tsuna answered, still glaring at the door. He glanced at Ieyasu, and, seeing him unharmed (discounting the bruised ribs and aching head they both had), said, "What a guy… There shouldn't be a next time, at least. Mom probably learned her lesson."

"What lesson is that? Suspicious flyers are scams waiting to beat her sons up?"

"Exactly. Seriously, what the hell was that baby? Good riddance."

"Are you okay?" Ieyasu finally shook his shock off and sat up, crawling next to Tsuna. "You took a beating." They both had, but Tsuna had taken one twice.

"I'm fine. Mad at mom."

Ieyasu gave him a half-hearted smile. "You know how she is. Hey, aside from the beating, that was kind of funny, don't you think?"

"Yeah right," Tsuna huffed. They heard Ieyasu's stomach growl.

"Guess I'm hungry too," the youngest said. "I didn't even get to do some of my homework, but it's already dinner time."

Tsuna got up and left his brother's room to offer him some privacy. Ieyasu preferred to change out of his school clothes once he got home, a high contrast to Tsuna who didn't care if he wrinkled them or not.

Tsuna made his way downstairs, still grumbling under his breath.

"Tsuna," Nana called out when she saw him making his way past the kitchen, toward the front door. "What about dinner?

"Don't want it," he answered in a vexed voice, "I'm going out, so can I have some money?"

"You're going out?" Ieyasu asked, making his way downstairs.

"Yes," Tsuna said, then he turned to jeer at his mother, "And about that tutor-"

"Hm?" The twins stared at the baby, who was sat at their dinner table, already partaking of a bowl of rice.

"The contract states that Reborn-kun will live here until both your grades go up," Nana grinned, gesturing to the baby.

"You've gotta be kidding!" Tsuna exclaimed.

"No way" Ieyasu almost stumbled down the last step, gaping at the two figures eating dinner.

"Be serious, mom. This kid's just a baby."

Ieyasu smiled a bitter half-hearted smile at Tsuna's remark. What kind of baby was this if he could beat up his older (albeit weaker) twin brother?

Whatever the reason—though Ieyasu could guess that his mother just loved children and guests (the more the merrier), and this baby was both—Reborn ended up moving in with the Sawada family as the twins' home tutor.

Tsuna was very unhappy with this result, especially when he was forced to stay for dinner by the baby called Reborn.

Ieyasu? Though he was glad his brother had stayed for dinner, he couldn't help the chill in his spine when Reborn looked at him and asked him to pass the soy sauce.

"Is it cold or what?" Tsuna seemed to reflect his thoughts, (sporting a new bruise on his left cheek and) rubbing his arms for warmth.

* * *

The next morning, Reborn followed them to school.

Tsuna did not take it well.

"Don't you have to go to grade school or something," he jeered at the baby.

"He barely looks like he's one year old, nii-san," Ieyasu commented, "let alone a toddler."

"Assassins don't go to grade school," was Reborn's excuse.

"Stop it with the assassination act already."

"Maybe there's some truth to it," Ieyasu considered, remembering the events from the day before. He was walking ahead, so his worried expression did not reach his brother's eyes.

"That's rich."

"You're going to get on my nerves," Reborn said, though he seemed unfazed in Ieyasu's opinion. "You should be a little more like your brother and accept the truth."

"Be like my brother!? I-" Tsuna didn't get to finish his sentence, as he was dragged away from the street corner they were turning and behind a wall.

"What's the big idea?" he asked, but his voice was muffled by his brother's hand.

Before Ieyasu could respond, Reborn was greeted with an adoring squeal.

"Kya! Kawaii," came Sasagawa Kyoko's voice. The brothers saw her crouch in order to better see Reborn. Tsuna stiffened under Ieyasu's grasp, no longer putting up a fight.

"Ciaossu," the baby greeted.

Tsuna jumped, realizing this encounter might be dangerous for Kyoko.

"Why are you wearing a suit?" she wondered.

"I'm in the mafia."

Ieyasu and Tsuna stood, still hidden behind a wall, in stunned silence. Ieyasu had to wonder just how open the mafia would be about their identity in this situation.

 _It shouldn't be this easy to figure out you're in the mafia_ , he thought.

Tsuna thought, _She already likes the little brat…_

Kyoko realized she would be late for school, so she said her goodbyes. "Good luck with that. Bye bye," she waved and walked away in the direction of Namimori Middle.

"Ciao ciao," Reborn also waved.

He turned to the hidden twins. "Mafia seduction."

"Excuse me?" Ieyasu asked, his hand still on Tsuna's mouth.

"You like that girl, don't you Ieyasu?"

"I've never met her," the youngest twin said, but he blushed. Why was he discussing his love life with a baby? He wouldn't even discuss it with his twin before (mostly because it was nonexistent).

"I've mastered the art of mind reading, you can't fool me," the baby said.

"That's such an obvious lie!"

Under Ieyasu's hold, Tsuna had gotten very quiet.

 _Ie-_ kun _likes Kyoko Sasagawa too?_

"I don't like Sasagawa-san like that," Ieyasu continued to argue.

"You admire her," Reborn said smugly, ignoring Tsuna as the boy glared at him. If looks could kill...well, Reborn would have been tickled at best, but the meaning was clear. Tsunayoshi also liked Kyoko Sasagawa.

He was here to train Ieyasu, however, not Tsuna. Maybe he'd find a lover for the older twin later if he managed to fix that dame-attitude of his. He was just like his previous student, if not worse.

"Well," Ieyasu's cheeks flushed furthermore. He couldn't deny the truth. This was the girl that had caught his older brother's attention after all. "Yes, she's the school idol, you know," he decided to say, "but it's impossible for me to go out with her!" His phrasing took an obviously misleading path.

Ah, so Ieyasu knew of Tsuna's crush on the girl, thought Reborn.

What a good brother, but with a giving attitude like that, he would never get anywhere.

(Obviously, this was one the few mistakes Reborn would ever make, but it made for an interesting morning.)

"That brother complex of yours is amazing," Reborn commented. Both twins flushed, but Tsuna recovered fast enough to finally get out of his brother's hold.

"That's none of your business! Leave us alone," he squalled, then he pushed his brother in the school's direction by the shoulders.

"It's finally time," Reborn continued as if he hadn't spoken.

"Huh?" the twins turned to look at him.

"Die," he said, pointing a pistol at Ieyasu's forehead.

Tsuna jumped despite himself, while his brother stilled.

"That's a toy," he reasoned, fearfully staring at the gun's muzzle.

"Eh?" Ieyasu's voice cracked under pressure.

"Go die once," Reborn said.

"Stop kidding around already," Tsuna almost yelled, letting his brother's shoulders go to gesture wildly at the baby in front of him. "What would be the point in killing him anyway?"

"You'll see when he dies," he answered.

He shot.

"Ieyasu!" Tsuna jumped forward, too late to stop the bullet from piercing his brother's forehead.

While dying, Ieyasu regretted.

 _I'm dying_ , he thought. _Goodbye world. Mom, dad, Tsuna-_ nii _. I wish it hadn't been like this._

 _If only I had felt this dying will before, I would have at least introduced my brother to Kyoko Sasagawa. I could have seen him without his_ dame _exterior._

 _I could have forced my brother out of his shell with my dying will._

Maybe Ieyasu really did have a bit of a brother complex, as these were his last thoughts before he hit the ground.

Tears in his eyes, Tsuna quickly kneeled over his body, hands waving above him emptily.

"What do I do, what do I do, what do I do" he chanted, ignoring the loud scream that came from a woman walking past them.

"What happened?" somebody else yelled from behind.

Reborn stood beside him, calmly watching the oldest brother shake over his twin's body.

The first bullet always took a while.

" _ **REBORN!**_ "

"Hieek," Tsuna was startled back. He fell on his behind, staring at his brother's suddenly half naked, but very alive body burst forward. The unshed tears began to spill.

"Ieya-"

He couldn't finish his sentence; Ieyasu had grabbed his hand and pulled him forward, running at a speed Tsuna could not keep up with.

"W-Wait, what just-"

" _ **I am going to introduce you to Sasagawa Kyoko with my dying will** ,_" his brother yelled resolutely.

"Why are you naked?" Tsuna was beyond his tears, now more afraid of his brother than he was mournful.

That made Ieyasu pause for a second to look down. " _ **So I am** ,_" he said. " _ **Well, it doesn't matter! Where is Sasagawa Kyoko!?**_ "

"Why is your head on fire!?"

He continued to drag Tsuna along, leaving Reborn behind.

"Huh," the baby said. "Brother complex. Well, it's dying will time," he grinned. He'd get rid of that ridiculous complex later.

Tsuna wasn't entirely sure what happened after his brother ran into the bike. Ieyasu had covered his body after that, but he was pretty sure they bounced off at least two things and fell from a very high place before they landed.

" _ **We found her coincidentally** ,_" Ieyasu exclaimed. Tsuna, still flustered and confused, wasn't sure who "her" was until his brother continued.

" _ **Sasagawa Kyoko! My name is Sawada Ieyasu and this is my older brother, Sawada Tsunayoshi! Please be our friend!**_ "

He then pushed Tsuna forward, shoving his face all too close go Kyoko's.

At that moment, Tsuna was many things. Frightened, tired, still a bit tearful, confused. Confused, mostly, but he wasn't nearly confused enough to forget that when two faces were so close to each other, lips tended to meet.

The thought of a kiss with Sasagawa Kyoko made him reel back, stuttering out apologies with a tomato-red face.

Before he could get out a coherent word, Kyoko screamed and ran away, hugging her bag tightly.

"Kyaa!"

"Kyoko!" Behind the twins, Mochida (where had he come from?) picked himself up. He then punched Ieyasu, just as the flame on his forehead flickered out.

"Oof," he grunted.

Tsuna stared at the running Kyoko in horror. _My life is ruined..._

"You've gotta be kidding me, you pervert!" Mochida yelled, chasing after Kyoko. "You're no better than you no good brother!" He shoved Tsuna out of his way as he said this.

"Ow," Ieyasu cried, grabbing his chin. He sneezed, forcing out an unknown object into his hand. "It didn't hurt when I hit that bike," he whined. Or bounced off that wall. Or landed on Mochida.

Tsuna started walking toward his brother shakily, trying very hard to avoid every single stare going his and his brother's way.

Ieyasu began to inspect whatever had lodged itself out, not recognizing the small object. It was growing colder by the second in his hands. "What was this doing inside me?"

"Is that," Tsuna stood behind him, shaking at the very thought, "a bullet?"

"So I was actually shot?" Ieyasu yelled, hand reaching for his head. He didn't feel anything out of place (a hole, for example), but he searched all the same.

"Yes," Reborn answered, appearing out of thin air. "This is the dying will bullet. A person shot with it will resurrect with dying will after death." He held up another bullet, displaying it for the twins. "Your dying will is based on what you regret when you die."

"But, I wasn't really regretting- Maybe I was sort of regretting- Though I was actually just-"

"Wait a minute," Tsuna interrupted his brother mid-dilemma, "What if he hadn't had any regrets when he died?"

Reborn turned around to face the Sawada residence's direction, already beginning his walk back. "I'm an assassin," he answered with nonchalance.

"You mean he could have died!?"

"What?" Ieyasu grabbed his hair, forgetting his regrets. "I'm too young to die, no way, no way." He looked down at himself and finally realized that he was only wearing his boxers. "Ack! This is so embarrassing! I'm going home, Nii-san!"

Without any prompting, the youngest Sawada twin began running back home. Reborn hopped on his head as he passed.

"Ie-kun!" Tsuna extended his hand in a half-hearted attempt to stop him. _That looks even weirder than before now…_

He sighed, shifting his gaze at the ground. He caught sight of the bullet his brother must have dropped and picked it up.

"Dying will bullet," he said, clenching his teeth with a clack. "Why the hell would he regret not introducing me to Sasagawa-san if he has a crush on her too?"

He glanced at the school building, raising a brow. There was no way he was going to school if Ieyasu wasn't there to force him in. Especially not after the fiasco he'd just taken part of. He slowly made his own way back home, pocketing the bullet.

* * *

"I can never go back to school now," Ieyasu cried, holding his head despairingly. He was now fully clothed in a casual shirt and pants. "Why would you do this to me!?"

"I also miscalculated," Reborn offered. "I thought you would confess your feelings for Sasagawa Kyoko."

"I don't have any! It's my brother who really likes her, damn it," Ieyasu almost yelled, almost making a grab for the baby's collar. Just the thought of another bullet going through his head stopped him short.

Reborn took that under consideration.

"About your brother," Reborn continued as if Ieyasu's struggles to not kill him meant nothing. "You should get rid of that complex of yours. A mafia boss can't depend too much on his big brother like a baby."

"Look who's talking!"

"You're also very cowardly, like your dame-brother."

Ieyasu gritted his teeth. "D-don't call him dame!"

"What are you going to do about it?" Reborn's smile was too smug for an infant.

"Just what are you, anyway?" Ieyasu changed the subject, glaring at him in defeat.

"I'm your home tutor. I'm a hitman. I'm Reborn."

Without Tsuna around to deny any of this, Ieyasu felt comfortable enough to ask, "And you said you're part of the mafia?"

"Yes."

"Some guy hired you to make me a boss."

"Essentially."

"What if I don't want to be a mafia boss?"

Reborn pointed a pistol at his head, making the boy jump back. "You don't have a choice."

It was easy, thought Reborn, to make the youngest Sawada accept his role as a mafia boss. Ieyasu eventually nodded shakily, clenching his fists and jaw. Too easy.

It showed a lack of willpower altogether. Maybe Reborn should have felt smug (even as a baby, he terrified his victims), but he was not here as a hitman; he was here as this boy's home tutor.

Reborn was bothered, possibly disappointed. If what dame-Tsuna lacked was outlook, what Ieyasu lacked was willpower. Specifically, a dying's willpower.

"Loser. I'm taking a nap," Reborn announced, leaving loser-Ieyasu to his thoughts.

* * *

Tsuna came back to find Reborn taking a nap in Ieyasu's bad. He had his eyes open, but a bubble was rhythmically accompanying his heavy breathing.

 _Creepy_ , he thought.

He almost woke up the baby, but his brother caught him by surprise, pulling him back. He was charred.

"If you wake him, you'll die," he said with a heavy expression. He pointed at a pair of grenades tied by a string near his bed which Tsuna hadn't seen before.

 _That's too much_ , Tsuna motioned to scream, but Ieyasu had already pulled him out of the room.

"I guess he really is just a baby," Tsuna said once outside, "It's not even noon yet and he's already taking a nap." He paused awkwardly, looking around. "Mom's probably at some event. Did she mention one this morning?"

Ieyasu didn't comment, shaking his head. He took a deep breath and said, "I'm going to be a mafia boss."

A moment of silence as Tsuna attempts to process the information.

"What?" He yelled, "You've gotta be kidding me! There's no way we're joining the mafia!"

"You don't have to join," Ieyasu said. "All you have to do is stand back and watch me become one."

"Why would you even want to join?" Tsuna grouched, raising a suspicious eyebrow. "Do you...like the idea of joining the mafia and becoming a boss?" He could see it. Ieyasu was a naturally born leader, but the thought of having a family member in the underground world terrified him.

Ieyasu paled. "Are you kidding me? This is the worst possible situation! I don't want to die, and if I become a boss I'll probably get in a lot of dangerous fights. You don't understand, Tsuna-nii. If I don't join, that baby will kill me himself!"

"Don't be ridiculous! He can't actually force you to become a mafia boss," Tsuna reasoned.

"Did you not hear me the first time? I was shot in the head! I actually thought I was leaving this world! You don't get it; I don't want to die!" He crouched to the ground, hiding the tears that filled his eyes. "I don't want to die…"

Tsuna stood back, unsure what to do. He was also afraid his brother would die. Just that morning, he'd thought Ieyasu had died, and his reaction to it had been...useless.

 _"What do I do, what do I do, what do I do…"_

What would he do if his brother died? How could he prevent it?

"How come," he began, sitting down next to Ieyasu, not mentioning his tears, "I wasn't chosen instead? I'm the oldest, after all."

"I don't know." Ieyasu sniffed, keeping his head down, but he thought about it. "Do you think we could convince Reborn to make you the boss instead?"

"Are you stupid? I don't want to be boss any more than you do. Besides, he probably doesn't want someone as dame as me."

Ieyasu sniffed again. "Don't say that. Look at how you're handling this whole situation. You're way too calm about it if you ask me. You would probably be a better boss."

"I've been freaking out way more than you have! I had to watch you get shot this morning, then you dragged me all around all of Namimori, and you didn't even break a sweat!"

"I don't get why I could do that either," Ieyasu insisted.

"That's because you had dying will at that moment," Reborn said.

"Ack!"

"Eek!"

Startled by Reborn's sudden appearance, both twins clambered and fell to their side, Ieyasu landing over Tsuna's figure. They scrambled to sit up.

"Since when have you been here?"

"I am always ready," he responded smugly, "and as your home tutor, I will be responsible for answering any mafia-related questions."

"What kind of home tutor does that!?"

The twins eventually calmed down enough to listen to Reborn as he explained the history of the Vongola, including the dying will bullet.

"Dying will means your body is in a state wherein all safety switches are off. In exchange for risking your life by breaking your limits, you can harness amazing strengths."

"Like potential energy?" Ieyasu asked.

"I get it now," Tsuna said, his face brightening up momentarily. "Of course that's a lie! I've never heard of a bullet that could do that!"

"The dying will bullet is a specialty passed through the Vongola family only."

"Vongola?" The twins asked simultaneously.

"I was assigned by the Vongola's ninth generation boss to come to Japan and raise loser-Ieyasu to become a mafia boss," he looked at Tsuna, "as a bonus, his twin brother also gets to experience my supreme tutoring. You should be grateful."

"Nobody's gonna be grateful about that!"

"And what do you mean 'loser-Ieyasu'?" Ieyasu added.

Reborn continued as if neither had spoken. "Vongola's ninth is getting old and he was planning on passing on the boss status to the tenth generation, but the most qualified of them, Enrico, was shot in a feud." He held up a picture, displaying a dead man on the ground.

"Eek!"

"The next in line, Matsumo, was drowned," he continued, this time holding up a picture of a dead man floating in water.

"Gyaa!"

"And the favorite, Federico, was found reduced to bone," he held a picture of skull and bones.

"Alright, we get it, you don't have to keep showing them!" Ieyasu, like Tsuna, was cowering beneath his hands, blocking his view from the dreadful photos. He trembled.

"So," Reborn sang, "the only candidate left to be tenth is Ieyasu."

"How does that make sense?" Ieyasu exclaimed, peeking from under his hands. Reborn had put the pictures away, so he let his hands fall from his face.

"The Vongola's first boss retired early and crossed over to Japan. He is your great great great grandfather, so you are part of the Vongola bloodline, and therefore a legitimate candidate."

"What?" Tsuna scowled. "I've never heard of this in my life."

"Don't worry," Reborn said, "I'll make your brother into a fine boss. And you will be made into someone worthy of being a boss' brother."

By now, Reborn had taken his clothes off and gotten into his nighttime pajamas. Explaining to the twins their heritage had taken all afternoon and evening, discounting dinnertime with Nana.

"Don't be ridiculous," Tsuna yelled, "there's now way Ieyasu is doing this!"

Ieyasu nodded fervently. "Besides, I'm the youngest twin! Shouldn't Tsuna be the next candidate instead?"

"Ie-kun!" Tsuna glared at his brother.

"Because dame-Tsuna is dame, and loser-Ieyasu is not," Reborn answered briefly. "You were hand chosen by an associate of the Vongola, so I have to train you. It doesn't matter which of you I would have had to train, either way, I would have succeeded in making you a fine boss."

Tsuna blushed. A baby was calling him dame—a baby of all things! How low could he really go?

"I-I wouldn't have wanted to be a mafia boss anyway!"

"I'm going to sleep," Reborn informed them. "If you interrupt me, you'll die. Be careful," he sang before falling into his open-eyed sleep.

 _Creepy creepy creepy- wait a_ "Stop setting traps in the house!" Tsuna yelled.

"On my bed of all places," Ieyasu groaned. "Now where am I going to sleep?"

Reborn was already deeply asleep, or at least faking it very well, so he didn't respond.

Tsuna sighed, holding himself back furiously. He didn't want to set off a bomb in his brother's room, after all. Or be convicted for murder, that too.

"I guess," Tsuna began with a sigh, "you'll have to sleep in my room tonight. I'll get an extra futon."

By the time he had laid the futon on the floor, his brother had already fallen asleep on his bed. Tsuna didn't mind, it had been a very tiring day.

 _Besides, he got shot and he found out he's going to be a mafia boss._ Ieyasu deserved a bed.

Tsuna also fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

* * *

 **Okay, this was the first chapter of what I presume won't be continued for a _very_ long time. I just _had_ to upload it today. I wanted to make the first chapter take the entire first chapter of the manga, but I didn't get to it because...I'm impatient? Meh.**

 **See ya, someday.**


	2. That Guy From Italy

***In Japan, "Makeinu" means "underdog" or "loser," so instead of Loser-Ieyasu, I think I'll start calling Ie-kun "Makeinuyasu." It seems pretty long, but if someone prefers it, I could type out Make-Inuyasu instead for easier reading, though that feels a bit more like "defeated-dogyasu" rather that "loseryasu."**

 **Maybe just Makeyasu? Anybody know which one would be better in terms of combining insults and names? I'll just go with the last one for now :/**

 **Okay, I have not written in a long time, mostly because school and finals last a long month and the studying beforehand is very stressful. Now that it's summer, I don't believe I will start working on this and giving it my 100%. I won't. Seriously.**

 **I am going to be a senior soon and that means I have to mentally prepare myself to actually do** _ **all**_ **my homework. This is very frustrating. Last year I skipped all my summer work and most of my homework in general, and I still passed (barely, haw haw), but I can't do that this year! I must work hard! Shudder.**

 **Anyway, enjoy the second installment of the first chapter of...Twins!**

 **Word Count: 5,267**

* * *

Neither twin was prepared to go to school the next morning.

Ieyasu was first to wake up. The room was considerably messier than his, and the bed he slept on had unfamiliar covers, so he recalled the previous day's events quickly. It soon became apparent that none of it had been part of some terrible nightmare.

"It wasn't a dream," he almost sobbed, sitting and grabbing his head miserably. His moans of sorrow did not wake his brother.

"Ah, so you're awake," Reborn appeared from thin air.

"Ack!"

Tsuna was last to wake up in the Sawada household, and he awoke with a pained cry as Reborn kicked him into the the floor.

"Wake up, dame-Tsuna."

Once he got over his painful awakening, Tsuna yelled, "Stop calling me that you stupid baby!"

Ieyasu felt a bit jealous at how easily Tsuna was accepting the situation. He was upset, of course, but not very distraught like Ieyasu was. Of course, he also wasn't the one chosen to become a mafia boss.

A mafia boss.

A mafia boss!

He wasn't even fourteen!

By then, Reborn had already left to have breakfast with Nana, so Tsuna was left to scream at empty space.

"Aarrrrgghh!"

"I think," Ieyasu finally looked up from his brother's covers, "I'll go get ready for school now."

Remembering their embarrassing encounter with Sasagawa Kyoko the morning before, they both groaned simultaneously.

"You can't be serious," Tsuna moaned. "We can never go back to school after yesterday."

"I think Reborn may say otherwise."

Tsuna paled, and, for the first time in a long time, he hurried to get ready for school.

 _Well_ , Ieyasu thought as he fixed his tie while walking down the stairs, _maybe Reborn can get rid of his dame attitude. That's good, right?_

Then why did he feel sick to his stomach at the thought of having a mafia tutor? The thought made him bite the nail on his index finger.

The two brothers made their way to school slowly, pacing themselves (but making sure not to be too late because Hibari was a scary individual).

"We should have skipped," Tsuna complained on their way. "I don't have the guts to face Sasagawa Kyoko after what happened."

"At least it wasn't you who Mochida-senpai's got it out for now. Worse, he's my Kendo captain. I skipped morning practice today because I'm so embarrassed, but what will I do for this afternoon?"

Admittedly, Ieyasu got the shorter end of the stick.

Both took a deep breath, but it was Ieyasu who raised his hand and slid open the door to their homeroom class. The effect of their arrival was immediate.

"Hey, it's the perverts!"

"They're here! They're here!"

"How'd you get your brother to follow your lead, dame-Tsuna!?"

 _'Follow my lead?'_ the eldest thought, _I was obviously the one getting dragged into the situation!_

Clearly, the last comment had been taken as the explanation for yesterday's commotion, the twins found as the class continued to dog them.

"We heard it all from Mochida-senpai," someone explained. "He said, 'My kohai is too naive, I can't believe he would help his brother in such a perverted scheme. Can't be helped, dame-Tsuna is his aniki after all. I guess I will have to take responsibility and challenge him for tainting my best kendoka!'"

"He said all that?" Ieyasu asked, slightly relieved that he wasn't on his team captain's black list. He winced and turned when Tsuna started defending himself.

"We're only 27 minutes apart, I'm barely his older brother!" No one would listen, and what was once Tsuna's pride became the condemning evidence against him.

"I just don't get why he would do something like this," a girl whispered loudly to her friend.

One of the boys answered, "Isn't it obvious? He has a crush on Kyoko so he convinced his brother into introducing them while at the same time looking like a pervert. That way, she wouldn't fall for Ieyasu instead, the better choice."

If it hadn't been "obvious" before, it was now.

Ieyasu winced and glanced as his brother paled. _Now they know he has a crush on her!_

The useless boy stared in horror as his classmates began discussing Tsuna's perverted ways, completely forgetting that it had been Ieyasu who had, literally, dragged Tsuna into Kyoko's path.

 _I guess that's what happens when you're your younger brother's no good brother_ , he thought bitterly. Still mortified, he turned around to walk away, avoiding his brother's eyes. No matter what Ieyasu said, he was going home today!

All morning, he'd been slightly comforted by the knowledge that, for once, a bad moment in his life would be shared with his better brother. He'd even felt a bit guilty because he knew Ieyasu had been the naked one, the one who'd gotten punched by his senpai, the one who was being forcibly turned into a mafia boss by a violent baby.

Maybe he had felt that it was his fault, if only a little. Ieyasu didn't have the problems of someone useless, and that was because he was not someone useless. Tsuna felt that it might have been his fault that Ieyasu's life had turned for the worse so suddenly, that he might have been bringing his little brother down to his level.

 _Now I can rest easy knowing that's not going to happen_ , he thought, just as a hand grabbed his shoulder, jerking him back suddenly.

"What the-"

"Whoa, you can't go home yet," a kendo member exclaimed, "Captain Mochida is waiting for you in the dojo!"

"Wait!" Tsuna yelled, but the group of kendoka ignored his cry and lifted him above their heads, quickly making their way to the school dojo. "Wait!"

Ieyasu was left to stare at the scene in horror while students from different classes ran to witness the challenge.

 _"Can't be helped, dame-Tsuna is his aniki after all. I guess I will have to take responsibility and challenge him for tainting my best kendoka!"_ He could almost hear Mochida vividly, the arrogant tone in his voice clear in the knowledge that Tsuna was much weaker and clumsier than his twin brother.

"Oh no," Ieyasu said and he started to run hurriedly, hearing the chatter that surrounded him on the way to the dojo.

"Hey, let's go watch!"

"The day's already so exciting, and it's only morning," someone remarked, running after the crowd.

"Kyoko," someone said, and he would have ignored it as just another voice gossiping, if not for the response.

"Yes?"

He stopped abruptly, tensing as he turned to listen as Kyoko's friend, Kurokawa Hana, related the events to the oblivious girl. "Mochida-senpai is avenging you for what happened yesterday," she said, grinning suggestively. "He said, 'I won't forgive the person who made Kyoko cry!' Aren't you beloved?"

"We're just in the same leadership class! And, and I didn't cry!" Kyoko blushed, but Ieyasu thought she looked more embarrassed than she did flattered.

 _I'll take it_ , he thought. _She doesn't like Mochida and she doesn't hate me._ Probably.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Mochida-senpai totally likes you," another girl cheered on as Hana pushed Kyoko toward the dojo.

"Boys will be boys. Come on, don't you want to see-" She cut herself off when a brunet suddenly ran to them, nearly running over Kyoko's feet.

"Oh," Hana said, now less gleeful than before, "it's the other twin." Obviously, she took greater offence to the events of the day before than Kyoko did because while her expression became unamused, Kyoko's had brightened slightly.

"It's you! Or, is it…"

Ieyasu had not been confused for his twin brother in a long time. People generally looked at him approaching and assumed he was Ieyasu because he always wore his uniform neatly, or simply held some sort of aura that yelled, "Not useless!" (or at least that's what Tsuna had told him once)

Those who didn't know them as well, however, did tend confuse the two.

"I'm Ieyasu," he bowed respectfully, blushing a bit as he remembered the first time he'd introduced himself to Kyoko Sasagawa. "I'm very sorry," he yelped.

"No," Kyoko shook her hands in front of her. She put them down and bowed too. "I'm Sasagawa Kyoko. Nice to meet you."

Ieyasu gaped, seeing her introduce herself to him like he hadn't acted like a weirdo before. Hana was also gaping behind her friend.

 _She really is very kind!_

"My friends are always telling me I don't know how to take a joke. Yesterday…that was a joke, right? It was very funny," she laughed quietly, awkwardly.

Ieyasu didn't respond, not willing to lie so blatantly. "I'm still very sorry! I scared you and even made you run away," he bowed, deeper this time. "Please don't blame my brother either, he had nothing to do with this!"

"Oh?"

Hana hummed suspiciously, but determined that the shortie in front of her wasn't lying.

"Isn't your brother about to fight Mochida-senpai?" She asked, raising a brow at Ieyasu's pale face.

"Right! That, I have to go. Thank you for hearing me out, Sasagawa-san. Kurokawa-san." He left in a hurry, running twice as fast now.

By the time he reached the dojo, the students were going wild. But he did not see his brother anywhere. Mochida was standing alone at the center of attention, looking triumphant.

Ieyasu turned to a boy from his class and asked, "Where's my brother?"

"The coward ran away before the fight could begin. What a sore loser, always pulling the toilet card! Mochida-senpai won by default."

Ieyasu's shoulders sunk in relief. Why had he ever expected his brother to stay long enough to fight? He was smarter than that (or at the very least wasn't proud enough to care about defending his name).

Well, the lack of pride certainly wasn't good, thought Ieyasu, furrowing his brow.

"I guess," he muttered to himself, making up a plan on the spot, "I'll have to fight Mochida-senpai in his place." That way, Tsuna wouldn't be seen entirely as a coward, and maybe, just maybe, Ieyasu would be able to defeat his senpai.

 _We used to switch places all the time as children_ , Ieyasu grinned, almost facepalming for not having thought of his plan before. _We can just do that again!_

"What'd you say," his classmate asked, glancing at him, but Ieyasu didn't respond.

He quickly made his way out the door. He paused outside, taking a deep breath to get into character. The breath shuddered out, and he turned to the door, forcing himself to slump slightly. He always got on Tsuna's back for slumping.

He opened the door.

"I," he said, looking through the crowd at Mochida. Suddenly, the thought of fighting his captain seemed just a bit more frightening. He cowered, only a little bit, but forced himself to speak. "I'm here, M-Mochida-senpai."

So little had he made himself that the plan worked perfectly. Everyone assumed he was Tsuna on the spot.

He made his way forward, just as Kyoko and her friends entered the dojo as well.

"Hey, the prize is here," one of the kendo club members remarked, pointing directly at Kyoko.

Immediately, Kyoko cried out in insult. "Pr-Prize! What are you talking about?"

"Of course," Mochida grinned tenderly, "We are talking about you. Every challenge needs a prize, after all."

Hana looked just as deprecating as Kyoko, and Ieyasu could tell she was already regretting ever leaving her friend in the hands of the kendo captain for even a second.

Kyoko's shoulders trembled, and she almost walked out of the dojo to forfeit watching entirely, but a couple of girls held her back. "Let me go," she said, anger tainting her normally kind voice.

 _What a jerk_ , Ieyasu thought, not for the first time. He resolved himself to win and avenge both Kyoko and his brother.

Then he reached for the armor his team members had brought up to him.

"Huh?" He said, gaping when he failed to lift it.

"Ha," someone in the crowd laughed. "He's so weak he can't even hold the armor!"

"I bet even the shinai will be too heavy for him, haha!"

 _No way_ , Ieyasu stared at the armor worriedly. _I put this on every day, how can I not lift it now. Is Mochida...is Mochida cheating!?_

He looked up at the kendo club members holding the armor—two of the strongest in the club—, seeing their arms and shoulders tremble slightly under its weight. He glanced at Mochida and glared at his knowing smirk.

"Fine," he growled, glaring back at his captain. Ieyasu made his way to the shinai instead. "I'll just go without armor!"

He grabbed the shinai, but fell immediately when it weighed him down. _The shinai too!?_ He had no chance.

But he had to fight! There was no getting out of this one. He glared at Mochida once again, and forced himself to drag the shinai across the floor.

"He couldn't lift it," he heard a crowd member say, clearly surprised.

 _Of course not, it weighs a hundred kilos,_ Ieyasu thought to himself, gritting his teeth. _What a jerk, he was going to cheat like this with a beginner like Tsuna._

The middle-schoolers got in their respective position, though Ieyasu had a hard time bringing forward his shinai.

"First to ippon wins," a kendo member acting as referee reminded the crowd. Ieyasu knew he'd be lucky if he ever managed to lift his sword above his own head, much less Mochida's. He would aim for his arms, but he was afraid doing such a thing would only make him fall over himself.

They also forwent the usual formalities, seeing as "Tsuna" wouldn't know them.

"Ready? Go," the referee yelled, and Mochida made his way forward without a pause. Normally he would move forward to study his opponent—he was a very good kendoka—but this time the match had been decided before Ieyasu could even enter the court.

Just before the tip of the sword could strike him, Ieyasu dodged to the side like he normally would. Hindered as he was by the sword, he let go, but the lack of armor on his shoulders made him reel back and fall to the floor, inches from the edge of the boundary.

Mochida made his way to the fallen boy, but before he could lift his shinai above his head (which would have made it a very painful loss for Ieyasu), a strong voice made him pause to look at the entrance to the dojo. Everyone followed, the loud yell getting louder.

" _ **...wwwwwoooOOOOOHHH! READY! GO!**_ "

* * *

Reborn knew just about everything about Namimori Middle by the time Tsuna made his way past the school washrooms.

He especially knew about the challenge Mochida had announced to defeat Tsuna. On the battlefield, Reborn had faced many of his own challenges (one being his height, another being his hat. People loved to target his clothes, they were all such assholes).

Being such a skilled fighter, he'd learned to deal with all the injustices the world had against him. Being such a skilled tutor never made it as easy to pass down to his students.

Luckily, Reborn was so suave that he could make it look as if it was as easy as breathing.

He could almost see the thoughts of his more useless, non-priority, student. " _Just another episode engraved in the history of my useless life._ "

"Well, it's alright," the middle-schooler said aloud, raising his hands in a sign of surrender. "I can't win 'em all."

 _And you can't lose them all either_ , Reborn thought, pulling the string of his trap. Tsuna was suddenly slammed into the floor and dragged into an empty classroom. There, he was raised into the air, feet first.

"Whoa!"

 _Oh look, I've caught a Tsuna. The chicken of Nami, so I've heard._

"Ciaossu," he greeted cutely.

"Reborn!? What are you doing?"

"I've been studying you twins and your classmates all day," Reborn answered. It wasn't even lunchtime yet, but he wasn't lying. "You are unfit to be the brother of a mafia boss. Your brother will be easier to train," he remarked. Already Ieyasu fit many of his standards, if only just barely. "But he's still a loser," he added.

"Why are you doing this?" Tsuna yelled, struggling to stop spinning in dizzying circles.

"It's a chore," Reborn admitted casually, tugging on the rope he held playfully. "That's alright though, we have a relationship, so I'll help you out."

Tsuna furrowed his brow. "You're just going to turn my brother into a mafia boss, right? You don't have to bring me into this, I'm worthless!"

"I don't think you understand," Reborn smiled that standard smile of his, "The relationship I have with my students is that of a hitman and a target."

Reborn raised his pistol, letting go of the rope.

"Wai—wait!"

"Die."

 _BAM!_

The rope slid from its hinge, letting Tsuna's corpse collapse to ground.

 **While dying, Tsuna regretted.**

 _I'm...going to die...I'm now parting with the world._

 _What a waste. If I had the will of the dying, I could have probably beaten even Mochida-senpai._

…

Reborn didn't believe in people without regrets, so he didn't worry when Tsuna's body didn't twitch for a second longer than it normally would have.

 _I'll do it. I'm going to do it._

" _ **No matter what**_ ," Tsuna resurfaced from his body, exploding with only his underwear on, " _ **I WILL GET IPPON!**_ "

He started to run back to the dojo, his battle cry warning the crowd of his coming entrance.

" _ **UUUWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOHHH! READY! GO!**_ "

* * *

"It's...Ieyasu?"

"Why is he in his boxers again?"

Ieyasu also looked at the figure. Undoubtedly his brother, but his brother was...on fire? Also naked.

He paled and clenched his fist, swallowing hard when he realized that Reborn must have shot his brother with a dying will bullet.

"Sawada?" Mochida wondered. "Here to see as your brother is defeated for what he has forced you to become?" He didn't mention that the twin had a flame glowing on his forehead, nor did he seem to notice his lack of clothing.

" ** _Not at all_ ,**" Tsuna growled with resolve. " _ **I am here to defeat** **you** **, Mochida-senpai. NO MATTER WHAT, I WILL GET IPPON!**_ "

Mochida seemed surprised, as did the crowd surrounding them. Ieyasu had to admit he was also surprised, but the dying will bullet was special.

 _"This is the dying will bullet. A person shot with it will resurrect with dying will after death. Your dying will is based on what you regret when you die."_

No matter how relieved he should have felt that Mochida wouldn't be able to hit him after all, Ieyasu couldn't help but shudder. The words reverberated in his head, the phrase "when you die" refusing to leave him alone.

"Are you serious?" Mochida asked in the background of his mind. "Don't think I'll go easy on you, Sawada!"

Without further inquiry, Tsuna made his way forward, running at full speed, also forgoing the armor (for entirely different reasons). Mochida barely had any time to think. He did the first thing that came to mind and raised his shinai to strike his opponent's head.

He didn't miss.

But neither did Tsuna, who refused to back down simply because he was struck once. He forced Mochida's sword forward, headbutting it into making contact with Mochida's head. The blow threw the kendo captain off balance. For a moment, he was unaware of anything, and Tsuna took that moment to jump onto his torso.

"He's mounting him!?"

"What's he doing?"

Tsuna raised his hand, straightening it out for a chop.

"He's going to hit a men!"

Tsuna's battle cry synchronized with Mochida's own cry of pain. " _ **Gyooo** oaa_ahhhh!"

For a moment, all was quiet as the students stared in shock.

" _ **I GOT HYAKUPON!**_ "

What Tsuna had gotten was a handful of hair. All freshly torn from Mochida's head.

The crowd stared, slightly horrified, more or less confused. It took them all a moment to realize that...he had just made a pun.

"That's hilarious, Ieyasu," the crowd began to laugh wildly, cheering the twin on.

"They never really specified what sort of ippon he had to get!"

"How about it?" Tsuna turned to the referee, seemingly glaring.

Too afraid to be coherent, the referee simply squealed.

Tsuna took that as a negative. " ** _Damn it_ ,**" he cursed. With another battle cry, he proceeded to tear away every single hair on Mochida's head.

"O-onii-san," Ieyasu stared in slight horror, and the student crowd seemed to share his sentiments.

"Wow, Ieyasu. I didn't think you hated Mochida that much."

"That's kind of scary…"

" _ **ZENBUPON**_ ," Tsuna stood and shook the entire cluster of black hairs in the referee's face.

"RED!" The referee cried in terror, raising the flag to signify the round's end and Tsuna's win.

Ieyasu's eyebrows raised to his hairline, surprised that that had actually counted. _He won?_

"The flag, they raised it."

The crowd went wild once more, running toward Tsuna to congratulate him on the win.

"That was amazing, Ieyasu, you actually won!"

"You looked insane-"

"But don't you kind of respect him even more for it!?"

They shook Tsuna's shoulders, but the steam in his eyes ran out, and the flame on his forehead vanished. He was too dazed to respond as the crowd patted him on the back.

 _I did it_ , he thought. _With dying will...I beat someone as strong as Mochida-senpai. I can't believe it._ He looked around himself, eyes widening as he realized the position he was in. _I'm...at the center of attention._

"Good one, Ieyasu," another hard pat to his bare back hit him.

Tsuna frowned. _Ie...yasu?_ They thought he was Ieyasu? He couldn't remember much about his surroundings during the fight, too focused on getting an ippon, but he recalled his brother lying on the ground.

Tsuna turned to face his brother, ready to ask him if he was okay. If people thought he was Ieyasu, that only made it more believable that he had beaten Mochida (even if he'd done it with a word game).

He saw Kyoko help Ieyasu up.

That made him flinch. Only a little.

 _Right_ , Tsuna bit his lip, _Ieyasu likes Kyoko-chan._

He hadn't noticed, but the unusually positive crowd cheering him on had caused him to hold his head high. His posture was still bad, but his back had been straight in a way that exhibited a rarely shown pride.

The moment Tsuna resolved himself to give up on Kyoko, he'd withdrawn into himself again. His shoulders drooped, his head dropped to stare at the ground.

 _I guess I'll have to give up on her too_ , he thought, shaking off another saluting hand.

"Ieyasu?"

Right. He had acted really coolly just now, but he was supposed to be Ieyasu in the eyes of everyone else. Kyoko would surely like his brother now. That was good.

"I have to go," Tsuna swallowed, unwilling to look into the eyes of one of Ieyasu's friend. Before another could ask him if he was alright, he ran out of the dojo.

* * *

Ieyasu accepted Kyoko's hand gratefully. Behind her, Hana stood tall. She didn't offer any words, but he could tell she didn't hold any bad feeling about him, thank goodness.

"Thank you," he muttered, slightly embarrassed because his brother had beaten Mochida so easily. He glanced at his now bald captain, a small and grim smile edging on his lips.

 _Jerk_. He deserved it.

"Wow, Ieyasu, that was a very kind thing you did for your brother. Fortunately he came running in to save you!"

Hana's eyebrows rose to her hairline. She had assumed Ieyasu had been the one naked, but now that she thought about it, boy running in boxers _had_ looked a little too weak, with too little muscle on him.

He nodded in agreement, a naive smile settling on his lips. "Yeah, I can't believe he did it so eas- Wai- You know I'm Ieyasu?"

It was a belated reaction, but his face fell slack as he stared at Kyoko. She'd only met him twice, and both were rather unorthodox moments.

"How could you tell?" he asked.

Kyoko blinked. "We just introduced ourselves," she said, furrowing her brow. She looked at the crowd, where Tsuna was likely getting congratulated front and back. "You were wearing a shirt. You also seem to be taller than your brother, didn't you know Ieyasu-kun?"

 _Because he was wearing a shirt?_ Hana wondered.

"He just has bad posture," Ieyasu explained. "We're identical twins. Usually, people take a while to tell us apart."

"Really?" Kyoko seemed surprised. "Tsuna-kun," she blushed slightly, remembering the epic scene she'd just witnessed, "he just has this aura of someone who is not average, you know?" Ieyasu didn't. "N-not in a bad way! And, it's not that I'm saying you're an average guy either," she added hurriedly.

Hana stared at her friend in bewilderment. _She could not be...Kyoko would never...with that chimp, dame-Tsuna?_

Ieyasu watched her insist she hadn't meant to insult either twin. She could tell them apart, if only because he was wearing his uniform, while Tsuna had run in naked. That was a plus.

It seemed...she liked his brother?

 _This is my chance_ , he thought, nodding to himself.

"Sasagawa-san," he began.

"You can call me Kyoko-chan," she smiled. "Yes?"

"Kyoko-san. Umm...would you like to...meet my brother?"

Her eyes sparkled at the idea, raising Ieyasu's hopes incredibly. _She_ has _to like him! This is great!_

Hana felt herself die a little on the inside.

"That sounds great," Kyoko said, hands put together. She then frowned slightly. "Though I think it might make my extreme older brother start bothering him."

Ieyasu paled. A protective brother? _Abort. Abort! Tsuna can't fight!_

He almost groaned out loud. He really wanted to help his brother, but introducing him to a violent guy was not very helpful.

"But," Kyoko continued with speculation in her voice, "Tsuna-kun was so incredible just now. I'm sure he'll get along with my brother just fine, even if he says no."

"Says no?" Ieyasu asked, but Kyoko was already waving her hand in a gesture of goodbye, Hana (being more aware of their surroundings) tugging on her hand.

"See you later, Ieyasu-kun. You'd better hurry or you'll miss your first class."

He looked around, seeing students were already leaving the dojo. "I totally forgot we were at school," he crowed, running away to his first lesson so quickly that he forgot he'd been holding a conversation with Kyoko.

Kyoko didn't take it to heart.

"He seems nice," she told Hana as they walked to class at a calmer pace.

"Really? He's kind of iffy if you ask me," Hana replied. Then she glanced at Mochida, who was still out cold. "But, I guess you're a better judge of character. I can't tell him apart from his brother though. Dame-Tsuna, was it?"

"That's not very nice," Kyoko frowned. "Tsuna-kun put Mochida-senpai in his place, don't you think?"

"That's true…"

They left the dojo. Not even the kendo club members bothered to stay behind, unwilling to be tardy for their morning lesson, even for their captain. The cheese was left alone.

* * *

Tsuna stared at the place where his corpse had been lying. His clothes were laying flat on the ground, no sign of him having bursting out of them. He was still naked, but it was so odd to see his uniform on the ground so perfectly, he had to take it in.

The rope was gone though. Reborn had probably taken it, leaving his clothes to lie alone.

Tsuna picked the uniform up and dressed in the washrooms. When he walked out, students were already heading to their classrooms. Though the air was still buzzing with excitement, Tsuna felt himself calm down at the normal sight.

He spotted Ieyasu walking to class at a hurried pace. He could tell the youngest had run half of the way here. The brunet was now slightly sweaty, and his clothes were slightly hassled, but he had slowed down enough to look around in search of something.

Or someone. Tsuna could take a guess at who.

"Ie-kun," he called, catching his brother's attention.

"Tsuna-kun," Ieyasu brightened up. "I have great news!"

They began walking together, ignoring the occasional cheers the surrounding student would give when they realized the Sawada twins were together.

Ieyasu said, "I can't believe you beat Mochida-senpai. He was going to cheat, you know?"

"Cheat? Why would he need to cheat?"

"Because he's a jerk, I told you! You looked so scary though, Nii-san, like a demon. Especially with...the flame on your forehead… Reborn shot you, why?" His voice had gone from excited to awry halfway through.

"I think Reborn plans on 'tutoring' us both. He says I'm not fit to be the brother of a mafia boss," Tsuna answered, making Ieyasu frown. "Luckily, he says you already look like you'll be a good boss. Or maybe that's unlucky…"

"So he's going to keep _killing us both_? What if we don't regret anything when we die? This is really dangerous." Ieyasu looked close to tears, but he settled for biting his nails instead.

"I," Tsuna interrupted himself. He would have said that he didn't think Reborn was that bad a guy (he hadn't really felt scared after the bullet had hit him, not even after his dying will had run out), but maybe that was the wrong thing to say to his brother when he was so nervous. "I guess we'll find out." He switched the topic, "You said you had good news?"

Ieyasu brightened up considerably. "Kyoko-san wants to be friends with you!"

Tsuna narrowed his eyes, disbelieving. "You mean she wants to meet _you_ , right? Everyone at school thinks it was you who beat Mochida-senpai, after all."

 _Oh no_ , Ieyasu thought, biting his thumb, catching on quickly. _He doesn't actually think I like Kyoko-san_ that _way, does he?_

As much as he tried, Tsuna couldn't hide a bitter glance which he directed away from his brother. There was no way he was feeling jealous. He was especially averse to feeling jealous of _his twin brother_. That was just sad, and could potentially ruin their good relationship.

Some people may say Ieyasu had a brother complex, but any good sibling knew it just wasn't healthy to let their brother give up on their first love without fighting for it. This was a moment to encourage a relationship, not force Tsuna out of the pseudo-love triangle Reborn had created! Ieyasu had to do something.

For a second, he wondered if his twin brother was worth skipping their first lesson over.

 _What a stupid question_ , Ieyasu sighed finally, rolling his eyes before grabbing Tsuna by the arm and tugging on his shirt sleeve.

"We need to talk."

"Huh? But class is starting."

"Yes, but this is important."

"Important enough to risk Hibari-san finding us?" Ieyasu paused, his shoulders tensed. He had forgotten about the head of their local gang.

He wavered for some time, but finally slumped in defeat. "It can wait till after school."

Tsuna left him to stew outside their classroom, reminding him to hurry up before heading to his seat. Outside, once the door closed, Ieyasu grabbed his hair and almost yelled, "I am such a coward!" He had let his fear of Hibari ruin his chance to tell Tsuna that he didn't like Kyoko. Luckily, the halls looked empty, so he avoided any strange looks.

 _No, it's fine_ , he calmed himself down. _I'll just tell him when we get home._

He resolved himself to this, and got into class with the worry still in his mind. Reborn, hidden in plain view as a potty plant, smirked without any real cheer. "Makeyasu."

When the twins got home, and Tsuna accidentally ran into Reborn's traps, Ieyasu couldn't tell his brother anything because a section of their house had exploded.

"Reborn!" Tsuna yelled from underneath the rubble that used to be his bedroom. "What are you doing in my bed!?"

The baby continued to doze, as did Ieyasu who had passed out. _You were right_ , Tsuna thought, glaring at the baby's figure as it fell from the sky with a parachute overhead, unharmed by any of his bombs. _This guy is too dangerous!_

Hopefully this issue would be resolved quickly...

* * *

 ***In case the pun is not apparent (or you didn't have a translator explain it to you like I did):**

Kendoka (Kendoists) wear armor; a shinai is a sword made of bamboo (as general info).

" **Men** " is just the place where people thought Tsuna was going to hit Mochida; the headgear (head) (面).

 **Ippon** : An "ippon" is a point in kendo (一本).  
The beginning "ip" basically replaces "ichi," which means one (1) (一).  
But "hon" ("pon"), by itself, can simply mean "a narrow object" when you're counting things (like pencils, bottles, umbrellas or, yes, hair) (本). When stating the number of objects, one would go "Ippon, nihon, sanbon, yonhon, gohon" and so on. 本 ("hon/pon/bon") sounds differently depending on the number, see. (From "score" to "one-piece" or "one long-thing.") (一本)

" **Hyaku** " means one hundred. Hyaku-pon means "one hundred narrow things." This, obviously, does not satisfy the referee (百本). I think Google Translate pronounces that as "hyaku-moto" unless you separate the kanji though...

" **Zenbupon** " is not a real word, definitely not a Kendo term. "Zenbu" means "all," and "pon" is used to provide that connection between the general "pon" and a kendo "ippon." (All-pon; all-"of them") (全部本).

 **Since I'm practically following the manga word by word, this was pretty easy ^^; I'm seriously such a copycat, honest guys.**

 **Glad you stayed for this long, just to read this 2nd installment! Sorry, I may take longer to update the next chapter (but it's summer, I can stay up till 4 now apparently. My writing juices are tingling—ignore that phrase ew. I think I might do a couple more chapters after this before school starts for our 'Merican teens, yay~).**

 **~See ya**


	3. Enter: Hayato Gokudera!

**Hey~**

 **So, warning? The volleyball chapter was never my favorite chapter, and since we all already know the type of person Tsuna is, it's also pretty irrelevant.**

 **Ieyasu plays the game. That's pretty much the end of that chapter. I'll just have Reborn explain how the dying will bullets work in another scenario. How about it?**

 **Also, I introduce two totally new OCs! Well, not exactly new. They're just two nameless guys who appeared VERY briefly during the manga. I gave them names. And personalities (?probably?). And made them Ieyasu's friends, but they don't talk to Tsuna much because he's pretty lame.**

 ** _I hurried_ to get this one posted because I wanted to introduce Hayato already and I wanted to clarify a thing or two: Hayato is a difficult guy to follow, but he won't be disrespectful to either of the twins after the fight. They are brothers, after all, and family means a lot to him (even if his own family is a bit of a mess…)**

 **Also, Nami-chuu is what I'm calling their middle school from now on.**

 **Word Count: 5,101**

* * *

Though his situation at school had never been intolerable for Tsuna, seeing his brother play a volleyball game that Monday while everything around him stayed the same made him unexpectedly sour.

Ieyasu was still in the kendo club, but now that he was well-known for beating his captain, he frightened half the students at school. The other half tended to call him out in the halls, asking him how his day was going and telling him how cool he was for beating Mochida so fiercely.

There were few conversations in which Ieyasu's friends didn't mention the challenge, which caused the thirteen-year old to flush anxiously.

He had insisted the Friday after Mochida's beating that it had been Tsuna who had won the battle. Of course, no one believed it, but most of his peers stopped insulting his brother in front of him after that.

 _"If you talk badly about Ieyasu's twin brother, he'll take it personally and beat you up. See where the kendo club's captain Mochida ended up?"_

The twins weren't entirely sure if this was a plus, but for better or worse, Nami-chuu's students stopped calling Tsuna "dame" in front of either twin. Also, Ieyasu quickly gained a name for his brother complex (though he adamantly insisted that he definitely did not have a brother complex!).

It was two days later, during lunchtime, that one of his friends from the volleyball team, Masato Shibata, admitted that they were missing a player. Ieyasu, of course, offered to join.

"Seriously!? If the hero who beat Mochida-senpai joins us, we have nothing to fear!"

 _Hero?_ Tsuna wondered, leaning his chin on his hand, his desk placed next to his brother's window seat.

Still unwilling to admit he was jealous of his brother, especially at this stage in their lives, Tsuna watched the game with the proper enthusiasm (unaware that another watched him from behind the scenes, also full of bitter feelings).

If the volleyball team knew that _he_ had been the "hero" to beat Mochida, would they have asked Tsuna to play with them instead? It was just as well, really. Tsunayoshi didn't know how to play volleyball.

Though it wasn't by a landslide like most thought it would play out, Nami-chuu won. It didn't surprise Tsuna when the victory was accredited to Ieyasu, though his brother insisted his game had been mediocre.

"It's only because they practiced so hard that our school won," he told Tsuna that afternoon.

"I didn't know you could play volleyball," Tsuna said. "Even if you were just a beginner, you really looked like you knew what you were doing."

Ieyasu flushed, but Tsuna received a kick at the back of the head, courtesy of Reborn. "Don't coddle Makeyasu," he scolded. "If he's going to be a mafia boss in the future, he must learn to aim for nothing less than expert level."

"We're only thirteen," Tsuna scowled, rubbing the back of his head, holding himself back from hitting the baby evenly. That would just result in a lot of pain. For him.

After kicking him, Reborn had decided to stay on his shoulder instead of jumping back on the street wall. Tsuna complained, but they remained like this until Ieyasu opened the door to the house and Nana welcomed them in.

"Welcome home! Reborn-kun, would you like a snack?"

He kicked Tsuna on his way off.

"Ow! Arggh," Tsuna cradled his ribs. "Do you get the feeling he doesn't like me?"

On the contrary, Ieyasu got the feeling that the two were more comfortable around each other than he was around Reborn.

He didn't mention this, instead shrugging and excusing himself to do homework.

Half an hour later, Reborn came into his room to "help him with his math homework." This involved dynamite.

"How? Why?" Ieyasu had screamed, but in the end he'd only managed to save himself from half of the explosions.

In the room next door, Tsuna was given a harder time. Ieyasu felt guilty for feeling so relieved when Reborn didn't come back after eleven. This could only mean that Tsuna had finally gotten knocked out by one of the explosions or that he was forced to fall asleep knowing such a dangerous baby was in the same room (both unfavorable outcomes for his brother).

"Good luck, Tsuna-nii," he whispered in the darkness, before finally falling asleep. He would need it, though Ieyasu didn't know what for at that moment.

* * *

"I'm getting rusty," Reborn complained one morning during breakfast. He had planned to shoot more bullets at his student than he had, but he had only managed to shoot each of his students once. Really, teaching Tsuna about dying will flames was not in the plan, but Reborn did like to test the reactions his students got when shot with a dying will bullet.

Tsuna had been really predictable. From now on, however, the rest of the bullets were to go into Ieyasu, and Ieyasu only.

"Rusty?"

The baby took out his pistol, waving it around before aiming at Tsuna, who had asked the question. "If I don't have a target to hit every once in a while, I'll start to get rusty."

Despite the pistol in his hands, Nana seemed to be unfazed by their conversation. "You shouldn't play at the table, Reborn-kun," she scolded, but continued to eat her meal delightedly. Reborn put away his weapon and continued to eat.

Ieyasu almost fell out of his chair. _How does she not notice these things!?_

Since Reborn had entered their lives, which had only really been less than two weeks ago, Ieyasu had been getting increasingly frustrated with his family. While Tsuna often yelled at Reborn, he seemed to be getting used to his presence. Every bruise that appeared on their bodies (and Ieyasu had the sickening feeling that for every one he had, Tsuna had two or three more) didn't faze his mother.

He couldn't actively warn her about Reborn, of course, since the baby lived with them. Even if he could, he wouldn't because that could have possibly put his mother in danger. Reborn didn't look like he held any bad feelings toward Nana, but hitmen didn't normally hold any special feelings toward their targets!

Tsuna's reaction was worse still. He wasn't oblivious to the circumstances around him, but he'd even gone as far as to let Reborn set up a hammock in his bedroom.

Ieyasu could still remember the night Reborn had tried that on him. Too afraid to sleep in the same room as a professional assassin, he'd sneaked out in the middle of the night to sleep in the living room.

The next night, seeing Reborn's hammock still in the corner of his bedroom, Ieyasu had asked Tsuna if he wanted to have a sleepover, seeing as it was a Friday anyway.

"Sleepover?" Tsuna had asked. "But we live together."

"But we don't sleep in the same room anymore! W-w-we could play video games in your room, and read manga together. I could help you finish your science homework, if you'd like!"

Ieyasu had been desperate.

Fortunately, the only normal reaction Tsuna had when dealing with Reborn was when it came to homework. Even _he_ feared his teaching methods, so he took up Ieyasu's offer immediately.

They did, however, spend most of that night playing video games. Luckily, they also had Saturday night to hold a second "sleepover."

Reborn had gotten the memo the first night, but grown tired of it by Sunday, when Ieyasu had left his bedroom in the middle of the night to sleep in the living room again.

The middle schooler woke up with a blanket on him that morning, but Reborn would never admit anything if asked about it. After that, he started sleeping in Tsuna's bedroom instead.

This was around the same time that Tsuna started cleaning his room with tears in his eyes.

Ieyasu shook himself from his thoughts, glancing at the clock on the adjacent wall. Ever since Mochida had taken a temporary leave from school, the kendo club had stopped meeting in the mornings and left most of the practice to take place in the afternoon. Even then, they held meetings sparingly. They really needed a new captain.

This also left a lot of afternoons open for Ieyasu, which he would have usually used to hang out with his friends. With Reborn around, Ieyasu (and Tsuna) had to deal with his tyrannical physical training sessions instead.

Even when Ieyasu was allowed a reprieve to visit his friends (because being antisocial was also against Reborn's standards), Tsuna was left home to deal with the endless running laps and exercises that even Ieyasu couldn't stand for too long. After all, Tsuna had no friends.

Sometimes, Ieyasu felt so guilty for leaving Tsuna alone in these situations that he forwent hanging out after school at all. This never made Reborn any less tolerable.

Ieyasu sighed loudly as he and Tsuna walked to school. Reborn, always at their tail, kicked his lower back. "Don't start the morning so gloomily, you're going to get me in a bad mood."

"What's wrong, Ie-kun?" Tsuna asked, resisting the urge to rub his own back with empathy.

"Nothing at all." Everything.

"Okay," Tsuna let it go, thinking something along the lines of, _He'll talk to me if he really wants to, after all, we're brothers_.

Seeing how easily he was forgotten by his brother, Ieyasu remained depressed for the rest of the morning.

Until their homeroom teacher said, "We have a new transfer student who was studying overseas in Italy. Gokudera Hayato."

Quite an uproar was made, mostly by swooning girls. It was so attention-calling that Ieyasu momentarily forgot about his messy home life and focused on the new transfer student.

 _Did he say Italy?_

 _Reborn's homeland,_ thought Tsuna, his attention having been on their new classmate from the start. He remained bored, even as the girls on the two seats surrounding him gossiped about Hayato Gokudera.

"Isn't he hot?"

"He's come back to his homeland!"

 _Girls are interested in that sorta guy_ , he concluded, still bored. It suddenly occurred to him that Kyoko was a girl.

"Ah!" He yelled aloud, turning to see Kyoko's reaction. _She's smiling! I knew it, she likes him too!_ Tsuna turned to give Hayato his best glare ( _he ticks me off_ ) but he almost fell out of his chair when he realized the transfer student was already glaring _at him_.

"Hiee! What did I do?" Tsuna squeaked, already having forgotten that he had technically started the glaring contest.

"Gokudera-kun," their teacher said as the new guy made his way through Tsuna's row, "your seat is over...Gokudera-kun?" He was ignored.

Ieyasu watched the new transfer student kick the leg of Tsuna's desk, almost sending his brother overboard. _What the hell!?_

"Ow!" Tsuna yelped, and stared at the back of Hayato's head worriedly as he passed by.

"Psst," Ieyasu hissed, "Tsuna-nii, do you know him?"

"I don't!"

Masato joined in from the seat behind Ieyasu, "Looks like he's got it out for you, Tsuna!"

In the seat next to Tsuna's, Toshiaki Imai whispered, "He's gotta be some sort of gangster, don't you think Ieyasu-kun?"

The girls around the room sighed conspicuously, having heard the entire conversation despite the boys' attempts to whisper. "But that's what's so good about him," one said.

"It's _numbing_ , not scary," another trailed off behind her, looking at Hayato dreamily.

"Looks like we've decided to form a fan club!" Nobody argued this ridiculous point.

Tsuna could feel a pair of eyes glaring at the back of his head throughout their lesson, so by the time lunchtime arrived, he was anxious to leave the classroom.

"Wait," Ieyasu called, "I'll go with you!" But Tsuna was out before he knew it.

"Hey, Ieyasu-kun, stay and have lunch with your friends once in a while, will ya'?" Masato said, tugging on Ieyasu's arm and pulling him back into his seat.

"You're always with your brother nowadays. You're not," Toshiaki gasped with false shock, "breaking up with us, are you!?"

Ieyasu laughed along, but he glanced at the doorway every once in a while. It would take him five minutes to realize his brother had forgotten his lunch.

* * *

"God, what's with that transfer student," Tsuna complained as he made his way outside. "I just can't go along with that sort of violent behavior." Though most thought he was a coward (which he was), Tsuna preferred to call himself a pacifist.

Then he bumped into a senior, who turned around and allowed his friends to crowd around Tsuna, towering over his cowering figure tremendously. Their uniforms were a complete mess, one of them was even wearing a hoody. But, they were all looking at him like he was their next meal.

 _Eek! These guys are actually gang-members!_

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm really sorry," Tsuna cried, running the rest of the way to the courtyard. He leaned against a wall, panting in fear. "That was close. Those guy could have actually taken a bite out of me," he gasped.

"Your wussiness is an eyeful," he heard a rough voice say. Tsuna jumped and turned to find...the very guy he'd been running from in the first place. Hayato Gokudera!

"You-You're the transfer student," Tsuna shook with fear, watching Hayato light a cigarette. "I'll be going now," he faked a smile, turning around to leave.

"If a pinprick like you takes over the Vongola, our famiglia is finished," Hayato growled.

"Huh?" Tsuna paused, furrowing his brow. "How do you know about the Vongola?"

"I can't accept it," Hayato turned suddenly. "I'm the only one here fit to be the tenth!"

Tsuna jumped in surprise. "What are you t-talking about!? You've got it all wrong!"

"I've been watching you since your brother's volleyball tournament, but I don't wanna waste my time evaluating a weakling like you anymore."

"But I haven't done anything!" Tsuna cried, though the smartest thing to do would've been to inform Hayato that he wasn't the chosen successor.

"Exactly," Hayato remarked. "You haven't done _anything_. You're just a nuisance and an eyesore." He took out two sticks of dynamite from his pocket and said, "Die right here."

"Eek! D-d-d-dynamite!?" Tsuna had tears in his eyes as he spoke. He took three unsteady steps back when Hayato lit and threw the sticks of dynamite at him, but he didn't have enough sense to jump out of the way. Impact was imminent.

 _Bam! Bam!_

Before Tsuna could think coherently, the edges of the dynamites' wisp had been shot off.

Hayato clicked his tongue disapprovingly, but remained stoic in front of Tsuna, who had fallen to the ground just as the dynamites hit him.

But they didn't explode.

"Ciaossu." It was Reborn.

"Reborn!"

"You came earlier than I expected, Gokudera Hayato," Reborn ignored Tsuna's relieved cry.

"Eh? You know him?"

Reborn explained, "He's a member of the famiglia that I called over from Italy."

"So he's in the mafia," Tsuna exclaimed, as if it weren't already obvious.

"Yes, but this is our first meeting," Reborn granted.

"So," Hayato spoke, "you're the ninth's highly trusted assassin. Reborn."

Tsuna paused his freakout, riveted by the new knowledge. _Is Reborn that powerful in the mafia world_ , he wondered. He didn't get the chance to think about what this could mean because Hayato spoke again.

"You weren't kidding when you said I would become the successor if I killed Sawada, right?"

"What! What are you saying!?"

"That's true," Reborn said, which Tsuna found quite hurtful. He felt betrayed by his tutor (even though it was his brother who was supposed to succeed the Vongola). "But you have the wrong brother. Your target is Sawada Ieyasu, not Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"Huh?" Hayato raised a brow, confused. "Isn't it natural that the oldest be named the next successor? Whatever, I'll just go get the other one. You got lucky, pinprick," Hayato continued, walking past the brunet. Tsuna was temporarily relieved, but his mind quickly went to Ieyasu.

 _Now back to our regularly scheduled program_ , Reborn thought, watching Hayato walk back to class to drag Ieyasu outside. No doubt, the transfer student would only have to walk half the way. After all, Ieyasu (with that brother complex of his) would be running after Tsuna with his bento by now.

Reborn had called Hayato Gokudera from Italy for a reason. Obviously, the hitman didn't plan on telling Nono that Hayato should be the next successor instead. No, the problem was that Ieyasu...had pathetic friends.

By normal standard, his friends were probably nice enough. Masato played volleyball. Toshiaki was less athletic, but when they went out, they went to the arcade, sang karaoke together, and even played basketball (one-on-one-on-one). Neither of them was stupid, but they were both middle school boys, and they acted just like one would expect a middle schooler to act.

They weren't, however, built for the mafia. Tsuna was probably further from Reborn's standard's than they were, but at least he wouldn't be by the time Reborn was done with him (Dino was still pretty useless sometimes, but he was now somebody Reborn could approve of at least). But teaching Tsuna was mandatory, as was teaching Ieyasu. The hitman couldn't afford to expand that much time and energy on Ieyasu's famiglia, so he had to choose the candidates carefully.

Tsuna, obviously, couldn't be a guardian. As a relative of Ieyasu and Iemitsu (not to mention the Primo), he was almost 100% likely to have a sky flame as well.

Hayato was his first choice. He was young and inexperienced, but he belonged to the mafia world since the moment he was born. He would serve as a great way to connect the twins to the Vongola. What made him all the more promising was his unquestionable allegiance.

Reborn smirked knowingly. Ieyasu's reaction would probably be worse than Tsuna's, but he had a dying will bullet just for that. He cocked his gun, ready for his student's quiz to begin.

"Wait‼" Tsuna cried from the center of the courtyard.

The two mafioso turned to look at the middle schooler, both slightly surprised, one more than the other though no one would ever know such a thing.

"You want something, pinprick?" Hayato growled, raising a menacing eyebrow. Reborn could feel the wheels in his own head turning at the prospect of what was undoubtedly going to happen. Embarrassingly, he hadn't calculated this.

"I-I'll f-f-f-f-fight you instead!"

Reborn's fedora fell over his eyes shamefully, but interest was piqued all the same. The hitman could accept that Ieyasu's twin brother would want to protect him, despite usually being a coward. Another surprise in his life was understandable, especially when it came from somebody he hadn't been giving his utmost attention.

What was not acceptable was that Reborn had not been giving Tsuna his utmost attention.

 _I've been slacking as his tutor_ , Reborn admitted to himself. The boy didn't have any friends yet, and his grades had yet to improve to his standards. He had _meant_ to watch Kyoko introduce herself to him, help Ieyasu help his brother in the relationship, but the opportunity hadn't presented itself again.

Hana was quite opposed to Kyoko meeting Tsuna, it seemed. That had to be fixed soon.

In other words, Reborn should have seen this coming, but had ignored all the signs.

" _You'll_ fight me instead," Hayato repeated, scowling at the prospect. "I was willing to fight a weakling like you when I thought you were the successor, but now you really are just being a nuisance." Tsuna flinched.

Ieyasu wasn't coming soon enough, and Reborn was too good a teacher to prevent this from happening. He adjusted his grip on the pistol inconspicuously before saying, "I'll allow it."

Both middle schoolers jumped. "What?" They yelled simultaneously.

Reborn feigned a good humor. "If you beat Ieyasu's older brother and hold him hostage, Ieyasu won't have any choice but to give in. He's weak like that and has a brother complex to boot," making the plan twice as effective.

Hayato saw the value in this. He nodded immediately, then turned to Tsuna and pulled out nine more cigarettes and bit them. "Don't think I'll go easy on you just because you're weak," he muffled, lighting them and taking out eight dynamites.

Tsuna's eyes widened at the sudden change of mind, and he started to run haphazardly in the opposite direction. _I didn't think this through_ , he realized, tears in his eyes.

"I'll give you a hint," Reborn provided as Hayato flung dynamite at his student. "It is said that Gokudera Hayato is a human explosive device that conceals dynamite all over his body. Because of this, his other name is Smokin' Bomb Hayato."

The fear in Tsuna's eyes became more apparent as he screamed, "You've gotta be kidding me! That's even worse than knowing he's in the mafia!" More bombs exploded just behind Tsuna, thrusting him forward, but he refused to fall over at such a moment. Luckily, he had been training with Reborn for a week now, and with such a tyrant at his heels all the time he was better at catching himself than before.

Then he reached a dead end.

"No, no no no. No way!" Tsuna turned around to look for another exit, but all he was faced with was a mafioso teen on a mission to kill him (or at the very least bring him to the brink of death).

Hayato threw his sticks of dynamite.

Neither middle schooler heard when Reborn said, "Now fight with your dying will," but it made no difference to him. _Bam!_

Tsuna collapsed, and Tsuna died, and Tsuna regretted.

" _ **Reborn!**_ " He burst forth for a second time, just as Reborn had planned for his twin brother. " _ **I'll put out the fuses with my dying will!**_ " The boy then grabbed a bomb by the wisp, effectively defusing it.

He continued to do so, screaming " _ **DEFUSE**_ " for every wisp he reached. " _ **DEFUSE DEFUSE DEFUSE DEFUSE DEFUSE‼**_ " Though he looked like a demon, Reborn only found his running around funny (but maybe this was because he was a demon himself).

Hayato, apparently, couldn't find the humor in this. "What the- Double bomb!" He shouted, flinging more dynamite at Tsuna, but it was no use. Tsuna kept up the pace, never hesitating to " _ **DEFUSE**_ " every wisp with the energy granted to him by his dying will.

 _This is pissing me off_ , Hayato thought, biting down on his cigarettes with more force than necessary.

"Triple bomb!" No one could really know how he hid all the bombs on him, but Hayato had managed to pull out more dynamites than he could carry. He lit them all, but before he could throw them at Tsuna, his grasp began to fail. "Shit," he yelled as the sticks fell around him, sizzling with anticipation to blow up their owner.

 _This is the end_ , he thought, letting the cigarettes fall out of his gaping mouth.

" _ **DEFUSE!**_ " Tsuna's figure appeared in front of him at a demonic rate. His hand was clenched around the first stick of dynamite to have hit the ground, but soon the brunet reached every single one of the fallen sticks (no easy feat for someone without dying will).

Hayato stood back in astonishment, enthralled by Tsuna's speed and dauntless move. _He's...so cool!_

Just as the vapor in his eyes faded, Tsuna removed his hand from the last stick. He smiled, releasing a relieved breath. "I made it just in time," he said, putting a hand on his forehead. Exactly five minutes had passed, and he'd somehow defused all the bombs Hayato had thrown at him.

He jumped at the sudden slam than came from behind him. "I was mistaken," he heard Hayato say. "You are definitely the one who's fit to lead the Vongola!"

Tsuna paled at the loud noise, but Hayato continued. "Tenth, I'll-"

Before Reborn's plan could be ruined (though not completely because Hayato's role as the Storm Guardian had yet to be verified), all three of them heard a voice coming from the halls of Nami-chuu.

"Tsuna-nii! You forgot your lunch in the classroom, and that new transfer student already left. You should just come eat with Masa-kun, Toshiaki-kun, and me!" Finally, Ieyasu made his appearance, stepping out into the courtyard.

"There's the future successor," Reborn made clear before Hayato could speak another word. "Sawada Ieyasu."

Hayato had suddenly gone very quiet, conflict visible in his expression. He looked at Tsuna's naked form, and then to Ieyasu's fully clothed one. They looked exactly the same otherwise, but only one of them had saved his life.

"What going on?" Ieyasu questioned. "Isn't that the transfer student? Tsuna-nii, why are you in your boxers?!"

Reborn, already thoroughly annoyed by his own inability to properly teach two students at the same time, kicked him in the head.

"Ow!" The two fell to the ground, Reborn landing beside Ieyasu's head gracefully.

"Shut up, Ieyasu. You're late. It's dame-Tsuna's move now."

Though he had just been targeted by Hayato, Tsuna felt guilt creeping into his chest. The transfer student looked so confused, it almost didn't matter to Tsuna that he had tried to kill him or his brother. The brunet shook his head, realizing he was feeling guilty despite being the victim.

"I fought for my brother," Tsuna found himself saying before he could even wonder what any of these events meant. "So that means you'll have to accept him as the next heir to the Vongola, right?"

Hayato nodded. "Yes. The next in line is Sawada Ieyasu," he reminded himself.

Though Ieyasu paled, he managed to speak again. "Wait, how does he know about the Vongola, onii-san? What were you doing out here before I came?"

Hayato turned around to face his savior's brother, who now looked a lot lamer in comparison. "I accept you as the tenth," he made clear, but his face was rigid when facing Ieyasu. "But let me be clear. You don't hold a candle to your brother."

 _Eh_ , Tsuna recoiled, as did Ieyasu. _What is this guy talking about!?_

They couldn't possibly know what was going on in Hayato's brain. For the rest of his life, Hayato would never confuse the twins again. There was something about Tsunayoshi that he'd decided that day, made him more special to him than his allegiance to the Vongola boss did.

To the Smokin' Bomb, Ieyasu would never be on the same level as his twin. Some may say that the smoker was just too easily fazed by the turn of events, but some others would say that fate had taken a funny turn.

Ieyasu was dull, compared to his shining brother, or so Gokudera thought. He bowed, congratulating the youngest for being the tenth. "I never had any real ambition to become the tenth," Hayato admitted to a very confused Ieyasu, "but when I heard that the next generation's leader was a Japanese guy the same age as me, I felt like I had to test his strength."

Ieyasu paled. "D-d-does that mean you came to fight me?"

"Yes. Instead, your brother fought me on you behalf." Hayato's eyes were now shining in adorations. "Tsunayoshi-sama is really much more than I expected!"

"Sama," Ieyasu mouthed in surprise.

"Since he fought for you, I have no choice but to accept that you're my boss," Hayato nodded to himself, "but there is only one man I will follow for the rest of my life, and that it Tsunayoshi-sama!"

"Tsunayoshi-sama!?" Tsuna reeled back at the declaration. "Just c-c-call me Tsuna! Tsu-na! A-a-a-a-and we're classmates, not m-m-mafia members! We should just stay as normal classmates, don't you think?"

"Absolutely not," Hayato glared with a strong resolution. Too afraid to refuse, Tsuna stared in horror.

Ieyasu's eye twitched. _What is going on? Did this guy just call me tenth and then pledge to follow Tsuna-nii for life? Does this have to do with the mafia!?_

"I called Gokudera Hayato from Italy to come test your strength and gain you a new subordinate," Reborn answered.

"Ah! Are you reading my mind?"

No, but it was too easy to guess what was going through his head at the moment. "Of course. Since you were too slow to come, Hayato settled for fighting Tsuna to get you to back off from the Vongola. When Tsuna managed to beat him and save his life at the same time, it seems he did a full one-eighty."

Reborn felt like frowning, even if Ieyasu could not tell. The plan had gone awry, but Hayato accepted that Ieyasu was the next in line. He would follow Tsuna, but Reborn would have preferred it if he followed Ieyasu.

No doubt, Hayato would stay in Namimori, so if Reborn planned it all correctly, he could make Hayato's easily influenced mind turn to Ieyasu instead.

On the other hand, Reborn had the feeling that Hayato would be stubbornly faithful to Tsuna.

The hitman spectated the twins and their new subordinate. Obviously, the younger twin was still having trouble dealing with the situation, but he had caught on enough to realize his brother had been hit by a dying will bullet.

"Nii-san!" He ran up to Tsuna. "Are you okay?"

"Of course he's okay," Hayato responded. "Tsunayoshi-sama is too strong to have been hurt during battle!" But the teen faltered for a second. "You are okay, aren't you Tsunayoshi-sama!?"

"I'm fine!" Tsuna yelled. "Wait, no, what am I saying? C-call me Tsuna, Tsunayoshi-sama is too much! We are classmates after all…"

"Yes, Tsuna-sama!"

The twins smiled anxiously. _He didn't get it._

"So," Ieyasu started timidly, "Y-you're Gokudera Hayato? I-I'm Ieyasu. N-n-nice to meet you?" He trailed off, afraid the transfer student would take a bite out of him.

"Yes," Hayato replied solemnly, not mentioning that he already knew all of that. "You are Tsuna-sama's twin brother, so I'll accept you," _for now_ …

"Okay?"

Then the three gangsters who had scared Tsuna a while ago appeared again, one with a bat.

"Skipping class, are you? Don't you know you've gotta be senior before you're allowed to do that?"

"B-but it's lunchtime," Ieyasu frowned.

"Don't bother talking to these assholes, Tsuna-sama, tenth," Gokudera said, taking out another round of dynamite.

Tsuna gaped in shock, and thought, _he had more!?_

"I'll deal with them," Hayato continued, looking very cool as he made his way to the three bullies.

Needless to say, the rest of the week was full of many adventures for the Sawada twins as they realized that Hayato would become a permanent fixture in their lives.

* * *

 **More notes on the Japanese language and such:**

 **Nami-chuu** : 中学校 is pronounced **chuu-gaku-kou (or chuugakou for simple use~)** , and it means "middle school" or "junior high" (although middle school makes more sense). I just wanted to make it clear that I've called Namimori Middle School "Nami-chuu" for years. It gets annoying when I have to go back and make sure I didn't forget to write that out in English, so I just made it easier for myself by officially calling the school Nami-chuu in the third (and shorter) chapter. You're welcome for the weeb knowledge you geeks‼

 **BTW, I never spelled out Ieyasu's name as Makeyasu, which I know some people would be curious about.**

 **Ieyasu** is spelled like that famous samurai's name (I assumed): 家康  
 **Makeinu** : 負け犬  
 **Makeyasu** : 負康, but it's pronounced as **マケヤス** (makeyasu), not "Fukou" or "Fuyasu" or "Makekou" or however else translators may try to tell you it's pronounced!

 **(Note: Since anybody reading this most likely mainly talks English, and may not be totally into anime like a lot of other people reading, I'll just go with the standard "First Name, Surname" way of writing names as a way of introducing characters. Dialogue, however, is still supposed to be Japanese, so people will speak like someone from an anime would which generally makes stiff dialogue. But I'm 'Merican, so there is my logic in storytelling.)**

 **Masato Shibata** : 正人 柴田 (masa-to shiba-ta) ( _Shibata Masato_ 柴田 正人). Masato was such a simple name, I just had to use it. The surnames for these two were completely chosen at random though.

 **Toshiaki Imai** : 敏晃 今井 (toshi-aki ima-i) ( _Imai Toshiaki_ 今井 敏晃). I chose the spelling of his name based on a baseball player's, and his surname happened to be just under that guy's.  
*I also enjoy the idea of a character being named sushi ^^ typing "toshiaki" into google translate gave me the kanji "寿明," (toshi-akira) which directly translated to "sushi." Sushi is actually "寿司" (su-shi), but I still found it funny.

 **See ya~**


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